Day One

11/27/12

Last night was our first night sleeping in the jungle.  After a long travel day, I thought I was ready for bed, however, I thought wrong.  Our beds are short, moist, and completely covered with a mosquito net, something I had never experienced before.  The bed experience was unique in itself, but the jungle noises that surrounded it added all the fun.  I must have woke up 5+ times that night due to the rain, monkeys, and the sweat that was building up on my body.  I can’t even explain how happy I was to finally see the sun in the morning.  I had been up for a long time. 

After that, we ate a quick breakfast of oatmeal and pancakes, and then drove off to listen to a panel of sustainability activists in Belize.  I found most of the speakers to be very knowledgeable and interesting, however, after the first three, I got a little anxious and found it hard to sit still.  I would say that if all of them were as knowledgeable as Collin Young, this would not have been a problem.  His discussion on the environmental challenges and sustainability in Belize was fascinating.  Instead of having immediate plans of change, he understood that a long-term process would be the most successful.  One of my favorite points he brought up was that if a hurricane the size of Katrina hit Belize, it would set the country back 100-200 years.  His ideas of coastal development seemed just as important as the protected area system, and deforestation problems that occur in Belize everyday.  The guy was incredibly professional.  It was hard to watch some of the other panel members try to get my attention after hearing someone as professional as Collin speak. 

After the last couple of speakers, we were free from the classroom!  After feeling liberated from class, all of us were ready to enjoy the rest of the sunny Belizean day, however, it seemed as if the sun went down immediately as we exited the classroom.  Definitely disappointing, but the whole crew was still just happy to be outside.  It was a great feeling knowing that today would be our longest day inside; I was very happy to get it out of the way early in our trip.  After a short drive home, we relaxed, and even went down to the creak to take a dip.  None of us had water shoes at the time, but our feet luckily made it out fully intact.  However, Mike being Mike decided to flop/roll in the creak, and of course cut his hand slightly on a jagged rock.  It was just a layer of skin, but the small ones always hurt the most.  After a dinner of cornbread and tomato soup, we went back to the Toucan cabin and hung out, talked, and listened to familiar music.  Again, the dudes are getting along great, and I am very happy with the group.  What’s cool is that these are all guys that I would have probably never met otherwise.  Cant wait for what is to come.  Praying I sleep like a baby tonight.  Until next time!